Gaming tickets have existed for decades. A gaming ticket may include any type of wager placed upon a sporting event, game of chance, or other wage type play. One of the most common types of such gaming ticket is a lottery ticket. Conventional lottery tickets rely on the printing of wager information on a piece of paper. The wager information may include the game, draw and wager attributes along with a unique ticket identifier which allows for the validation of the ticket by the issuing authority. Wager attributes may include numbers or letters or symbols from pools of the same. Paper tickets are usually printed only after an electronic audit transaction has recorded the wager information. These paper tickets are typically anonymous bearer documents with no indication of ownership other than its physical possession as an outcome of their purchase or legal transfer. To claim a prize associated with the wager information one simply presents the ticket to the issuing authority or its proxy for validation of its document authenticity, recorded audit trail and match of its wager attributes to issuing authority declared award validation attributes.
The paper ticket is a bearer document which the issuing authority will validate, upon presentation by a claimant, as a condition of and prior to awarding a prize. Validation entails several steps. First, the tickets medium (paper) is checked to determine if it matches that of the issuing authority. Second, the wager information printed on the claimant ticket matches the game award rules required to award a prize. Third, a unique ticket identifier printed on the ticket is matched to the unique ticket identifier recorded in the audit records of the issuing authority. Extensive effort is made to verify that only the unique ticket identities issued by the authority are claimed. This often includes duplicate and independent audit controls to record wager information by the issuing authority.
A paper ticket matching the game award rules required to award a prize can be physically counterfeited in many ways including, but not limited to, using valid authority paper stock and valid authority printing equipment. This physical counterfeiting method is mitigated by the authority securely maintaining the recorded wager information in the authority system which will tell them if a uniquely identified ticket was in fact authorized for printing. Thus, the paper ticket is not the sole means of authenticity. Authenticity is the physical possession of a valid bearer document medium printed with valid wager information matching recorded wager information in an authority system.
Counterfeiting a ticket would thus require not only printing on a valid bearer document medium, but also manipulating the internal issuing authorities' computer system(s) and one or more independent control system(s) to record an electronic audit transaction with a unique ticket identifier that matches the printed (counterfeit) ticket.
However, counterfeiting by creating a duplicate ticket (a second ticket which has the exact same attributes of the first or original ticket) may be accomplished with less effort. If the printed wager information on a ticket is known, such as by the winner posting a photograph of the ticket on a public forum, the use of valid authority bearer document medium and valid authority printing equipment may allow a physical duplicate to be created that was indistinguishable from the original as far as claim validation is concerned. In this case, the first claimant to present the ticket may be validated as authentic.
Notwithstanding the possibility of counterfeiting, the bearer nature of the ticket is highly desirable by prize claimants as it allows, among many reasons, the claimants to remain anonymous in their wagering history prior to claim of a winning ticket, determine the appropriate or desired apportionment of the prize amounts to individual or corporate structures and determine the appropriate or desired geographic residence from which to claim the ticket for reasons such as tax advantage.
The critical attributes of a paper ticket are that the ticket is a bearer document such that prior to claim, the actual bearer whom is currently in possession is not identifiable through information printed on or electronically associated with the ticket nor is the bearers wagering history discernable through the bearers' possession of any one ticket. Thus, the bearer is awarded a prize so long as a valid ticket is validly issued by the authority with valid wager information matching the game award rules required to award a prize.
The recent advent of ubiquitous internet connectivity and specifically internet connected mobile devices and the mobile applications (apps) running on them has allowed many traditional paper based products to migrate to an electronic version of the basic product such as coupons and loyalty cards. Tickets, including those for lottery and other types of wagering, however, have not achieved this more convenient electronic product format due to the impractical nature of satisfying the critical attributes of the product.
Current electronic lottery ticket systems, including internet based systems, require non-anonymous transactions where the player is required to identify themselves and pay or pre-pay for the tickets under that identity. Players are hesitant to identify themselves prior to claim, provide sensitive financial information or have their wagering history stored by states or private parties and prefer to retain the critical attributes of a paper ticket.
It would be desirable to provide tickets for lottery and other types of wagering in an electronic format, acting as an electronic bearer instrument, that would retain the critical attributes of a paper ticket while eliminating the need for paper as a ticket medium.
It would further be desirable to allow an electronic ticket to be purchased and born by a player in a substantially similar manner as the paper ticket, yet have a behavior similar to that of a paper ticket so that people feel comfortable with their use.
It would further be desirable to have the electronic ticket provide for player anonymity as a bearer instrument.
It would further be desirable to have the electronic ticket provide for storage of player credentials such that player claim rights are protected by player reproducible information contained only within the electronic ticket and discoverable by the issuing authority at the time of claim.
It would further be desirable to have the electronic ticket provide for a group wagering means such that multiple players could add credentials to a common electronic ticket and be protected in their shared claim rights by both shared possession of the electronic ticket as well as a means to individually and/or collectively prove claim validity.
It would further be desirable to have the electronic ticket provide for a group wagering means such that multiple players could indicate apportionment of prize award at the time of purchase to avoid disagreement at the time of claim.
It thus is seen that a need has long existed for an electronic gaming ticket which is an anonymous, secure bearer instrument verifiable by the issuing authority. Accordingly, it is to the provision of such that this invention is primarily directed.